People's Republic of China Ex-Post Evaluation of Japanese ODA Loan
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People’s Republic of China Ex-Post Evaluation of Japanese ODA Loan Project “Broadcasting Infrastructure Improvement Project (Yunnan province)” External Evaluator: Atsushi Tsukui, International Development Center of Japan Inc. 0. Summary The objective of this project was to improve television and radio broadcast programs in Yunnan province, in terms of both quantity and quality, by replacing equipment at both Yunnan TV Station (hereinafter called YTVS) and Yunnan Radio Station (hereinafter called YRS) as well as implementing the training in Japan, thereby contributing to the advancement of education, cultural enrichment, and knowledge enhancement for the citizens of Yunnan province, and the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and China. This project is closely related to China’s development plans, development needs, and Japan’s ODA policy; therefore, its relevance is high. Additionally, the project cost was within the plan; however, the project period significantly exceeded the plan. Therefore its efficiency is fair. Both the population coverage rate and the viewership set as the project target criteria steadily increased, which evidences the project effectiveness. The efficiency of the program production is improved through the use of the procured digital equipment. The effectiveness of the training in Japan, such as the introduction of the Japanese open-plan studio, and the discussion style among citizens or intellectuals on radio programs has been observed; the improvement of the quality of broadcasting services (both in hardware and software) has contributed to the advancement of education, cultural enrichment, and knowledge enhancement for the citizens, especially for ethnic minority people of Yunnan; therefore, the effectiveness and impact are high. Regarding the sustainability of the project, the status of the organizational, technical, and financial aspects have been stable and sufficient. In this way, the sustainability of the effectiveness of the project is high. Based on the above facts, this project is evaluated to be highly satisfactory. 1 1. Project Description Project Location Yunnan TV and Radio Station 1.1 Background Broadcasting stations in China exist at the (1) central, (2) provincial/municipal/ autonomous-regional, (3) prefectural, and (4) county levels and are supervised by the corresponding governments. In 2001, the percentage of population coverage in the whole country was 94% for television, which meant that the broadcasting services had attained their mission of information provision, cultural enrichment, and advancement of education for the citizens to some extent. For the sake of further socioeconomic development, the government aimed at the improvement of information delivery and cultural enrichment to people by setting a target of 97% population coverage for television by 2010. Yunnan province, the target area of the project, had a population of 62,870,000 people (in 2001), comprising 25 ethnicities (documents provided by JICA). Its location has specifically historical and geographical characteristics: its border is shared with Myanmar in the west and with Laos and Vietnam in the south and south-east; additionally, the province lagged behind the socio-cultural development of the coastal areas. In 2001, there were approximately 7 million poor people. The Yunnan government established policies for the provision of cultural knowledge, education, disaster forecasting/prevention, and technology to the people through the broadcasting sector in its development plan. However, YTVS and YRS suffered from disadvantageous conditions for creating quality programs because they lacked digital equipment and facilities, caused by many years of financial shortages. Based on the background above, the project aimed at the improvement of broadcasting programs in Yunnan both in quantity and quality to contribute to the advancement of education, cultural enrichment, and knowledge enhancement for citizens, and also, to deepen mutual understanding between Japan and China. Further, the project planned to 2 introduce Japanese broadcasting technology and equipment to China through the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP)1 program. 1.2 Project Outline The objective of this project is to improve the quantity and quality of TV and radio programs in Yunnan by replacing broadcasting equipment and providing training in Japan to the staff of the broadcasting stations. In this way, the project contributes to the advancement of education, cultural enrichment, and knowledge enhancement for the citizens of Yunnan, and also to the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and China. <ODA Loan Project> Loan Approved Amount/ 3,008 million yen / 3,005 million yen Disbursed Amount Exchange of Notes Date / March 2004 / March 2004 Loan Agreement Exchange Date Interest rate: 0.75% Repayment period: 40 years (Grace Period 12 years) Terms and conditions Condition for Procurement: Tied (Special Terms for Economic Partnership(STEP)) Borrower / Government of the People’s Republic of China / Executing Agency People’s Government of Yunnan province Final Disbursement Date August 2012 Main Contractor Marubeni Corporation (Japan) (Over 1 billion yen) Main Consultant ‐ (Over 100 million yen) F/S by Yunnan Engineering Consulting Institute (July Feasibility Studies: F/S, etc. 2003) Related Projects ‐ 2. Outline of the Evaluation Study 2.1 External Evaluator Atsushi Tsukui (International Development Center of Japan Inc.) 1 Six projects (including this project) were adopted at one time as broadcasting sector projects in China. The other five projects were those in Jinan city in Shandong province; Qinghai, Anhui, Jilin provinces; and Ningxia Hui autonomous region. 3 2.2 Duration of Evaluation Study Duration of the Study: August 2014 – January 2016 Duration of the Field Study: December 14 – 22, 2014; March 9 – 11, 2015 3. Results of the Evaluation (Overall Rating: A2) 3.1 Relevance (Rating: ③3) 3.1.1 Relevance to the Development Plan of China The government of China has placed emphasis on the broadcasting sector as a measure for enhancing people’s cultural lives, and has set out policies for enhancing population coverage rates, quality of broadcasting programs, and upgrading information infrastructure including the broadcasting sector. These policies have consistently been retained in the Tenth Five-year Plan of China (2001-2005) at the appraisal to the Twelfth Five-year Plan of China (2011-2015) at the ex-post evaluation. The Twelfth Five-year Plan of China has placed emphasis on the policy of "Village to Village," which aims for the provision of public services to all rural areas and has endeavored to enhance broadcasting services. From 2010 onward, the government has pushed ahead with a policy that fuses the existing mass media, including broadcasting, to the Internet. This plan is named "Fusion of the three nets". The Twelfth Five-year Plan of Yunnan province (2011-2015) established the following policies for the broadcasting sector: (1) the promotion of "Fusion of the three nets" (telegraph, radio/TV, and Internet) and building up the next generation of stable, broad-band information integration systems; (2) to raise the population coverage rate of radio and TV to more than 97% and 98% respectively; additionally, to achieve 100% of these rates in small villages with less than 20 households in remote areas, and to expand the full-scale use of digital TV in urban areas; (3) to develop the cultural content industry through the use of the Internet; (4) to build the capacity for production, translation, and broadcasting of radio and TV programs and films for ethnic minorities and to develop publications for them; and (5) to promote the policies of "Village to Village" and "Household to Household" (dissemination of broadcast programs to households that have difficulties receiving broadcasts by providing satellite communication facilities). Based on the policies above, the consistency between the development policies of national and provincial governments and the project has been maintained from appraisal to ex-post evaluation. 2 A: Highly satisfactory, B: Satisfactory, C: Partially satisfactory, D: Unsatisfactory 3 ③: High, ② Fair, ① Low 4 Da Yu Tang village, a model village Broadcasting programs are provided to the for the "Household to Household" ethnic minority households by distribution of policy in an ethnic minority satellite antennas as part of the "Household to community in Yuanyang County Household" policy 3.1.2 Relevance to the Development Needs of China At the time of appraisal, because there are 25 ethnic minorities living in Yunnan, the government of Yunnan province aimed at human resource development and learning opportunity creation through the advancement of education and cultural programs on community-based radio and TV. For the development of Yunnan province, it was essential to provide broader groups of people with learning opportunities (such as advanced life-long education/ distance education) by improving the quality of broadcasting programs through the renovation of broadcasting equipment and facilities. As of the ex-post evaluation, the GDP per capita of Yunnan province was 25,083 yuan, well below the national average of 41,908 yuan (roughly 60% of it). In 2013, the after-tax income per capita in urban areas was 23,226 yuan, whereas the net income per farmer was 6,141 yuan (the government of China’s report, "Yunnan Province People Economic and Social Development Bulletin 2013"). Although it was not possible